Aiden Carrigan (2)

"We're here."

Dave's voice pulled Kael out of his contemplative thoughts, his attention shifting to the young detective and then outside his window. He closed the file and looked at the building in his view.

"Are all future chosen heroes well off?" Kael couldn't help but ask, staring at the grand modern home in his view. 

"Not exactly," Dave replied, undoing his seatbelt. "But the government makes sure everyone of them is well taken care of. They don't want a situation where the chosen heroes hold a grudge against humanity for neglect or its associated problems."

"Mm." Kael nodded, agreeing with Dave's take.

The two men stepped out of the vehicle, and Dave walked over to Kael's side. The modern home before them was one of many in the vicinity, as it was part of an estate community.

Each front yard of the surrounding modern homes had short fences that served no real purpose other than to demarcate the yards of each house. Beautiful lawns and flowers decorated the houses, adding a serene atmosphere to the environment.

The only difference between the building they were staring at and the ones around was the holographic barrier tape that read 'Crime Scene... Do not cross.'

"Come on."

Dave muttered as he stepped forward, going to meet the security guards watching the house with Kael a step behind. The guards, who were members of ARISA with the crest on their chests, quickly recognised Dave and moved to meet him.

"Field Commander West."

The leading guard saluted along with his men, their gaze briefly shifting to Kael and the folder in his hand before resettling on Dave. Although they recognised who Dave was, protocol still had to be observed.

"At ease," Dave nodded and retrieved his identification. "And he's with me."

He gestured at Kael, making the guards take another look before stepping aside to make way for both men. With a nod of appreciation, Dave and Kael walked through the holographic barrier and made their way towards the house.

Once inside, Kael and Dave looked around the spacious room, noticing the living area, kitchen, and dining hall. It was the standard living space found anywhere. Nothing was out of place or suggested a struggle had occurred anywhere.

"The kid was found in his room," Dave muttered a few seconds later, looking towards the stairs. "Nothing was found in the other parts of the house."

Soon, they made their way upstairs and came to stand before the victim's room. The door was wide open with another holographic barrier in place.

At first glance, the room looked normal. But as Kael and Dave entered, they spotted the evidence markers, four of them, placed at different places in the room.

The room itself was very spacious, featuring a large window to one side of the bed and a wall closet on the other side. Facing the bed, and on the other side of the room, close to the entrance, was a computer desk with bookshelves.

"There's barely anything out of place," Kael muttered, moving towards the evidence marker that was placed on the bed. "There's blood on the bed from the victim, but no signs of struggle."

"Indeed," Dave nodded as he moved towards the other markers, taking a critical look at what they pointed at. "The forensic team did a clean sweep multiple times on the night of death and even this morning. Even so, they came up with nothing."

Aside from the blood stains on the bed and the displaced clothes lying in the marked areas, there was nothing that suggested a break-in, a wait-in, or a struggle between two or more entities.

Kael nodded at Dave's words, lowering himself to take a closer look at the stains. 'Blood works already confirmed that the blood only belonged to Aiden. The perpetrator must be very good.'

He shifted his attention to the other evidence markers and found nothing out of order. Next, they looked around the room. Every nook and cranny was checked for anything out of the ordinary.

Opening the folder in his hand, Kael looked at the photos of how the kid was found, staring at the wound in his chest, along with the strange markings around the site. They almost resembled arcane symbols, which was why Kael saw them as sacrificial victims.

He might be wrong, but he read a fair bit about the world of old and some of the practices that had existed since ancient times. They were not lost; they were simply no longer the focus.

'The reports also mentioned that the symbols disappeared after a few hours, leaving no trace whatsoever.' Kael pondered silently, his gaze shifting back to the bed. 'Even when they were present, their traces couldn't be analysed for what their composition was.

'This Aiden kid had his heart pierced with something resembling a circular pole that left a hole in his chest. His heart was completely blown through.' Flipping to the next page, he reread what the others suffered. 'The second one here had their crown pierced with something similar.'

Furthermore, the ICP-MS tests on the wounds revealed nothing. It was as if the perpetrator relied solely on their mind to carry out the crimes. It sounded foolish, since the magic in their world had nothing to do with witchcraft or similar practices.

'But it can't be entirely ruled out.' Kael thought grimly. 'There are things I don't know about this world. For now, let's focus on the obvious.'

Dave turned his attention to Kael when he noticed him looking through the files again. The crimes were indeed strange and mind-boggling. Without the right know-how, investigating was going to be very challenging.

"Dave..." Kael lifted his head and looked at the young detective. "You do have some theories about the death of the kids, right? Someone or a group of people who would benefit greatly from the death of the kids?"

"..."

For a moment, Dave did not reply, seemingly considering Kael's words. Naturally, he knew where Kael was going with this. However, with all their power, they couldn't afford to offend those people, not yet at least.

"Hah..." Dave sighed. "Actually, we do. But you have to understand... This is something we need to be careful about. My boss is already working on his end to see how we can tackle this. In the meantime, we do what we do best to find any other leads."

"Mm," Kael nodded in understanding. "What about the people who knew the kids?"

"Preliminary questionings have been done already. My team and the others are working to establish a connection from different angles. It should be ready soon."